Country singer Chase Bryant’s sound is fun, loud, personal, real

Rising country music singer Chase Bryant, whose new single is “Room to Breathe,” performs Monday at Gardner’s July Fourth celebration.

He comes with an impressive pedigree: His grandfather played keyboards for Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings, and his uncles co-founded country band Ricochet.

Here he talks about his debut album (set for a fall release) and what he learned from his musical family.

Q: Describe “Room to Breathe.”

A: I’ve spent a lot of time writing sentimental love songs. The song makes you want to dance — makes you want to move. You’re not going to keep still.

Q: What can you say about your debut album?

A: We’re just about done cutting that. It has been a lifetime of music for me, and this is a collection of my ideas and memories and thoughts and prayers and hopes. This album is what my life has been, and I’m excited about it. People will vicariously live through all the things I wrote about, and I had a blast making it.

Q: Will you include any of your previous singles on the album (“Take It On Back,” “Little Bit of You”).

A: It’s been interesting. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I am. I’ve been doing this professionally since I was 16, but I’ve been playing all my life. It’s been a long journey and a lot of work. It’s one of those things where the minute you let go or say it’s too hard, it’s over. I never did that. I kept pushing and pushing, and somehow I’m here. It’s been a tough ride, but I made the best out of it.

Q: Who do you list as influences?

A: Fleetwood Mac, Bryan Adams, Vince Gill, Ray Charles — it’s all over the map. Music was something that was all around me, and I couldn’t put it down. I was addicted to it.

Q: What’s the most important thing you learned from your musical family?

A: Don’t give up just because someone tells you no. That’s something I watched more than anybody telling me that.

Q: You’re a left-handed guitar player who plays a right-handed guitar upside-down and backward?

A: It’s pretty interesting. That’s the way I started playing. That’s the way I picked it up. I could never play it any other way, so I stuck with it.

Q: What did you learn touring with the likes of Tim McGraw and Brantley Gilbert?

A: Learning how to be good to people. That makes a career long-standing. Good things happen to good people. I know it will take years to get to that level, but it’s all worth it in the end.